Lesson 16 notes – Newton’s Law of Gravitation

Objectives

Be able to state Newton’s law of gravitation;

Be able to select and use the equation F = − GMm

r2 for the force between two point or spherical objects;

Be able to select and apply the equation g = − GM

r2 for the gravitational field strength of a point mass;

Be able to select and use the equation F = − GM

r2 to determine the mass of the Earth or another similar object;

Be able to explain that close to the Earth’s surface the gravitational field strength is uniform and approximately equal to the acceleration of free fall;

Outcomes

Be able to state Newton’s Law of Gravitation.

Be able to explain that gravitational field strength varies with distance.

Be able to explain that gravitational field strength is inversely proportional to the square of the distance.

Be able to select and use the equation g = − GM

r2 correctly in a number of different situations.

Be able to select and use the equation F= − GMm

r2 correctly in a number of different situations.

Be able to explain how the gravitational field varies with distance.

Weight

What causes weight?

The gravitational attraction by the Earth.

What affects the size of the Earth’s pull on you? Why would you weigh a different amount on the Moon?

Your mass, and its mass.

If the Earth is pulling down on you, then what else must be occurring, by Newton’s 3rd Law?

You must be pulling up on the Earth with a force equal to your weight.

What happens to the strength of the pull of the Earth as you go further away from it?

It gets weaker – most students guess this correctly from the incorrect assumption that in space, astronauts are weightless!

So, in summary the force depends upon the masses of the Earth and you, and weakens with distance. This is all embodied in Newton’s law of universal gravitation

We know that Weight = mass x gravity and this is true at the surface of the Earth but as you move away from the Earth the gravitational field strength decreases. This is not linear, it goes down inversely proportionally to the square of the distance you are from the Earth.

ie. g is (directlyproportional to) 1/r2 where r is the radial distance.

g is also still directly proportional to the mass of the object you are standing on, (in this case the mass of the Earth).

So now we can write that g m(1/r2)

Since it is an attractive force it is always going to be negative and to make it equal something we need to put in a constant of proportionality (Universal Gravitational Constant)

We get:

g = -Gm/r2

This says that the field strength around an object goes down as you go away from it but is bigger if the object has more mass. So the figure 9.81N/kg is a specific figure for our Earth and our position from the centre of it.

Newton’s law of gravitation tells you how attracted you would be to an object depending on you mass.

Newton’s law of universal gravitation

F = -Gm1m2/r2

F = gravitational force of attraction (N)

m1, m2 are the interacting masses (kg)

r is the separation of the masses (m)

G is known as the “universal gravitational constant” (NOT to be confused with “little” g). It sets the strength of the gravitational interaction in the sense that if it were doubled, so would all the gravitational forces.

G = 6.67  10-11 N m2 kg-2

This law applies between point masses, but spherical masses can be treated as though they were point masses with all their mass concentrated at their centre.

This force is ALWAYS attractive. F = -Gm1m2/r2, and the direction is given by the fact that the force is always attractive.

Every object with a mass in the universe attracts every other according to this law. But the actual size of the force becomes very small for objects very far away. For example, the Sun is about one million times more massive than the Earth, but because it’s so far away, the pull on us from the Sun is dwarfed by the pull on us from the Earth (which is around 1650 times greater). As the separation of two objects increases, the separation2 increases even more, dramatically. The gravitational force will decrease by the same factor (since separation2 appears in the denominator of the equation). This is an example of an “inverse square law”, so called because the force of attraction varies in inverse proportion to the square of the separation.

We can define the field due to a body as the region of space surrounding it where other bodies will feel a force due to it.

What extent do gravitational fields have?

The gravitational force is infinite in range, although it becomes very weak at large distances, as it is an inverse square law. The gravitational field due to a body is thus also infinite.

It is negative since gravity is an attractive force.

At the centre of the Earth, g = zero, because matter will be pulled equally in all directions so that the overall force is zero.

Worked examples

Have a go at these – some hints are included for you.

Data required: G = 6.67  10-11 N m2 kg-2, mass of the Earth = 6.0  1024 kg, radius of the Earth = 6.4  106 m, mass of the Sun = 2.0  1030 kg, average distance from the Earth to the Sun = 1.5  1011 m.

1) Communications satellites orbit the Earth at a height of 36 000 km. How far is this from the centre of the Earth? If such a satellite has a mass of 250 kg, what is the force of attraction on it from the Earth?

It is (3.6 x 107 m + 6.4 x 106 m) = 4.24 x 107 m from the centre of the Earth. (You should really give this as 4.2 x 107 m – because of the amount of significant figures).

The force is F = Gm1m2/r2 = (6.67 x 10-11 x 6.0 x 1024 x 250)/ (4.24 x 107)2. This gives an answer of about 56 N, which for information is about less than the weight as a one year old toddler.

2) What is the force of attraction from the Earth on you? What do we call this force? What is the force of attraction on the Earth from you?

You will need to estimate their own mass in kg. If you need to convert, 1 stone is 6.4kg (and there are 14 pounds in a stone). Then use F=Gm1m2/r2 where r is the radius of the Earth.

This force is usually called weight.

The force on the Earth from the you is exactly the same as your first answer, but in the opposite direction.

3) What is the force of attraction from the Sun on you? How many times smaller is this than the force of attraction from the Earth on you?

Again, you will need to use your own mass, and the equation F=Gm1m2/r2, but this time r is the average distance from the Sun to the Earth. This force should be about 1650 times less than your weight, of the order of 0.3-0.5 N. Small, but not negligible.

4) The average force of attraction on the Moon from the Sun is 4.4  1020 N. Taking the distance from the Sun to the Moon to be about the same as that from the Sun to the Earth, what value of mass does this give for the Moon?

m2 = Fr2/Gm1 = (4.4 x 1020 x (1.5 x 1011)2)/(6.67 x 10-11 x 2.0 x 1030) = 7.4 x 1022 kg

5) Using the mass of the Moon you calculated in question 4, what is the pull of the Earth on the Moon, if the Moon is 380 000 km away? How does this compare with the pull of the Sun on the Moon?

F = Gm1m2/r2 = (6.67 x 10-11 x 6.0 x 1024 x 7.4 x 1022)/ (3.8 x 108)2 = 2.1 x 1020 N

This is actually smaller than the pull of the Sun on the Moon. So, is the Moon is orbiting the Sun rather than the Earth? In fact, it depends on the most useful frame of reference in a particular situation – from the Sun’s point of view, the Moon and the Earth orbit the Sun, in a way that is affected by the presence of the other; from the Moon’s point of view, both the Sun and the Earth orbit the Moon, in a way that is affected by the presence of the other, etc.

6. What is the force of attraction between two people, one of mass 80 kg and the other 100 kg if they are 0.5m apart?

F = Gm1m2/r2

F = G x 100 x 80 / 0.52 = 2.14 x 10-6 N.

This is a very small force but it does increase as the people get closer together!

Actually this example is not accurate because Newton's law really only applies to spherical objects, or at least objects so far apart that they can be effectively considered as spherical.

7. What is the force of attraction between the Earth and the Sun?

Mass of the Sun = 2 x 1030 kg, mass of the Earth = 6 x 1024 kg, distance from the Earth to the Sun = 1.5 x 1011 m

F = Gm1m2/r2

F = G x 2 x 1030 x 6 x 1024/ [1.5 x 1011]2 = 6.7 x 1011 N an enormous force!